The Platte City Board of Aldermen Tuesday night approved an agreement with the Transportation Development District (TDD) and developer Bill Mann for the construction of road improvements in the Platte Valley Plaza. The agreement passed with a vote of 5-1.

Under the agreement, the TDD will set an additional 7/8 cent sales tax on purchases made from businesses within the Platte Valley Plaza as well as a five cent per square foot fee on the property in the Plaza.

According to David Bushek, attorney representing the city in the matter, the design for the project should be completed by Oct. 31. The district will then put the project out to bid and should receive the bids 30 days afterward. He said the construction, which will include traffic signals at Hwy. 92 and Kentucky Avenue and other improvements such as turn lanes, should take about three months with an expected finish date of June 30.

Part of the agreement asks for the city to provide backing for the second part of the project. This means the city is responsible to cover $250,000 if the sales tax does not meet totals for the project.

“If the sales tax is not sufficient to cover the cost then the city will have to make up the shortfall,” said Keith Moody, city administrator. “However, the bonds mature over 20 years and the TDD exists for 40 years, so even if the city puts up the money, there may be resources later to reimburse the funds.”

According to Bushek, the most the city would be responsible for in one year is between $20,000 and $23,000.

“That would be the total amount in one year,” said Moody. “Though you would have some coming in from sales tax, it is not likely the city would be subject to the total amount. Also the land tax will always be there, but the sales tax won’t come into effect until a business is built.”

“So if there is a shortfall it would be in the beginning years before the sales tax comes on,” said David Brooks, mayor.

The aldermen then voted on the issue and the only one to vote no was Andy Stanton.

“I was just representing by constituents,” said Stanton. “I had several people from my ward contact me and say they are tired of Mann making promises and not following through. I don’t have anything against him, I was just listening to my constituents.”

In other matters the board:

•Changed the city’s pay period so it no longer ends on a Friday. The new period will run Monday through Sunday. This will allow employees to better manage their hours worked per week since many city meetings are on Monday or Tuesday nights.

•Approved a resolution to allow the mayor to enter into an agreement with Cudney, Ecord, McEnroe and Mullane, LLC. for the city’s 2008 audit of accounts. The company’s bid for the audit was the lowest at $8,300.

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